


Trusting

by hazelNuts



Series: 13 Days of Halloween [12]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Established Relationship, Halloween, Hunter Alec, Hurt Alec, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Gore, POV Alec, Secrets, Witch Magnus, very mild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 20:44:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12240330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazelNuts/pseuds/hazelNuts
Summary: On his way home Alec gets abducted by a Witch, and wakes up tied up and thrown into a corner of a small room. Being part of the Witch's ritual isn't the the only surprise waiting for him in that room.He can’t move.It’s the first thing Alec realizes when he comes to. The pain of the rope biting into his wrist, the dryness of his mouth around the gag, and the cramping of his muscles, hit him a moment later. Panic flashes through him, fast and sharp, before he shoves it down. Panicking isn’t going to help him, it’ll only hinder him in getting the hell out of here. Wherever here is.





	Trusting

**Author's Note:**

> If you think I forgot any tags, please let me know in the comments.

He can’t move.

It’s the first thing Alec realizes when he comes to. The pain of the rope biting into his wrist, the dryness of his mouth around the gag, and the cramping of his muscles, hit him a moment later. Panic flashes through him, fast and sharp, before he shoves it down. Panicking isn’t going to help him, it’ll only hinder him in getting the hell out of here. Wherever _here_ is.

Carefully, he tests the ropes. His ankles and wrists are bound, with a short rope stretched between them, tying them together, so he’s almost in a foetal position. He can’t stand up, or even wriggle across the floor. The ropes don’t feel very thick, but when he tenses his arms and tries to spread them, they don’t even creak.

His testing of the ropes is interrupted when he hears shuffling footsteps. He strains his neck and turns his head, and sees a shape moving in the flickering light of a candelabra that has been at the far side of the room. In the low light it takes a while for Alec to realize the shape is a person wearing a cloak, a Witch. His mind races as he keeps his eye on the Witch, ignoring his protesting neck muscles. It doesn’t make sense. Of all the supernatural beings, Witches cause the least trouble. They’re self-governing, have assimilated into society, and even occasionally work with Hunters. Hell, most covens aren’t even known, because there is simply no need to know them. The last time Hunters had to deal with a witch was over a century ago.

The Witch has gone on their knees, drawing something on the floor. When they’re done, they grab items out of a large shopping bag and place them on the floor. Then, they carefully set thick candles in a circle, and lights those before blowing out the candelabra.

Alec turns away, he’s seen enough. The Witch is going to summon a demon—a pentagram to call it, offerings to lure it, and candles to light its way—and it looks like he might be the last ingredient.

 _Fuck_. He should be at Magnus’, snuggled up on the couch, or in bed, or doing the dishes together. But on his way over there, Magnus called to cancel their date, a family emergency. Alec was disappointed, but he understood. Family is important. Date cancelled and his night suddenly opened up, he’d taken the long way home to figure out what to do. Izzy and Jace were at a Halloween party, Max at a sleepover, and his parents decided to hash out their divorce away from their children; he’d have the house to himself. He could do anything he wanted. The last thing he remembers is a vague plan to get Chinese and do a coin-toss for TV or reading.

 _Double fuck_. Nobody knows he’s missing. Everyone thinks he’s at Magnus’, and Magnus probably thinks he’s at home.

The sound of a door opening makes him turn his head again. Another cloaked and hooded figure steps into the room. They stand still in the doorway for a moment, then move around the circle of candles. Nothing happens for a while, the two Witches simply stand there, not talking, not moving. Then another figure steps through the door. Like the person before them, they take a moment to look around the room before taking the place. The three Witches now form an equilateral triangle around the circle of candles, and the pentagram Alec knows is drawn inside of it.

‘I won’t bore you with a long speech,’ Witch One says, their voice clear and powerful in the quiet room. ‘The goal of tonight is power. With people around the globe celebrating and the veil thin, there is so much power up for grabs. We need to take advantage of that. We can make life better for our coven, for other covens. With power we won’t have to hide. Hoarding power ourselves can be slow, which is why I’m asking for help.’ They gesture to the pentagram. ‘And power does not come without sacrifice.’

If Alec had any doubts about his role in all this, they’re gone now.  
‘This isn’t the way,’ one of the other Witches says.

 _No_ , Alec thinks. _It can_ _’t be_ _–_

‘This won’t help us. This will mean war.’

_–Magnus?_

Confusion and hurt fill his ears with cotton. He must have heard it wrong. The hoods, the small room, they must have distorted the voice. Maybe he has a concussion, or the spell Witch One knocked him out with is messing with his head.

A tug on his shirt pulls him out of his thoughts. He startles, and struggles until he remembers that it’s no use. He’s dragged to the centre of the room. Ignoring the candles and the pentagram, ignoring the Witch who has a grip on his collar, he stares at Witch Three.

Alec’s eyes widen when he recognizes the straight line of Magnus’ nose, the shadow on the chin exactly like Magnus’ where he’s growing out his beard, the lips he’s kissed a hundred times, those beautiful eyes that crinkle when Magnus smiles. And Magnus is staring right back at him.

There are bad Witches, just like there are bad humans, and Alec knows Magnus is a good person. He protested against the summoning just now, which means he must be here to stop the ritual, right? He can’t have been so wrong about is boyfriend, can he?

Witch One steps over him, blocking his view of Magnus. ‘It can be either you or me who does it,’ the Witch says. ‘Either way, he dies and gives his heart to the cause.’

‘I know what to do,’ Magnus says.

Alec’s heart clenches. _Was he wrong after all?_

‘Good,’ Witch One says, and steps back over him to take their place.

Magnus kneels next to Alec, a long dagger in one of his hands. Alec’s heart is hammering in his chest. He tries to catch Magnus’ eyes, searching for his boyfriend in the stony features, but Magnus doesn’t look at him. His eyes are fixed on Alec’s chest. He places a hand on the rope between Alec’s ankles and wrists, then places the tip of the dagger just to the side of Alec’s heart. Magnus’ eyes flick up, locking onto Alec’s, and Alec finds what he was looking for. There is anger and determination in the clench of Magnus’ jaw, but reassurance in his eyes. Eyes that flash yellow, pupils turning to slits.

The only warning Alec gets to prepare himself is Magnus’ lips ticking up in a small smile. In a flash, Magnus drags the dagger towards himself, cutting through the ropes, the magic of the dagger burning them away, freeing Alec.

‘What–‘ Witch One starts, but is cut off. A loud crash pulls Alec out of his daze of trying to process everything that is happening.

‘Can you walk? Are you hurt?’ Magnus asks as he pulls Alec up with him.

‘I’m good,’ Alec assures him after pulling the gag out of his mouth, voice hoarse. He has so many questions, but there is no time to ask them now. Witch One is scrambling up from the floor, their hood has fallen off and their mouth is moving. Alec searches for a weapon, but the closest thing would be one of the candles.

A sharp tug on his arm has him stumbling behind Magnus. The air flashes red. Alec reaches for Magnus to pull him to the floor, but there’s no need. The red flash hits a pale blue barrier emanating from Magnus’ hand.

‘Ragnor!’ Magnus yells.

Witch Two, presumably Ragnor, is suddenly next to Magnus. Alec had forgotten about them completely. The two Witches in front of him blast Witch One to the far wall.

‘Keep her there,’ Magnus orders.

Alec is left standing where he is, feeling completely useless, not something he’s used to. He has no magic, no weapons. He’s deadly in hand-to-hand combat, but he’d be blasted into a thousand pieces before he could even get a punch in. All he can do is watch and stay out of the way as Ragnor keeps the furious Witch One to the wall and Magnus cleans the pentagram of its offerings with one sweep of his arm. Alec hadn’t properly looked at the pentagram before, but now that he does, bile rises in his throat. Even scattered, he can still make out some of the offerings. Hair still attached to skin, small bones, an organ that might be a liver, and a bowl of dark liquid that can only be blood. Presumably, all of it is human.

‘Let’s go!’ Magnus yells.

Alec turns and runs out of the room, but stops when he realizes Magnus isn’t behind him. He turns, and sees Magnus throw the dagger into the pentagram, shiny with blood. Magnus throws his arms up sharply, the air shimmering in all the colours of the rainbow for a second. Alec opens his mouth to ask what just happened, but Magnus grabs his arm and pulls him through looks like a warehouse-turned-theatre. The space is big and echoes with their footsteps, chairs and props are lined up by the walls, a stage is set right in the middle of the room. _That_ _’s weird_ , Alec thinks, then almost bursts out laughing. Of all the things that’s happened tonight, this is probably the most mundane.

Outside, the cool autumn air blows all the oppressiveness of the small room at the back of the warehouse from Alec’s mind. Magnus lets go of his hand to help Ragnor put more wards around the building. When they’re done, Ragnor turns to Magnus, his eyebrows knitted in concern.

‘Magnus, what did you do?’

‘I called in a favour,’ Magnus says.

Ragnor doesn’t seem a more elaborate explanation because after a moment, he nods. ‘I’ll contact the others,’ he says, glancing at Alec. He’s already pulling out his phone as he walks away.

‘What _did_ you do, Magnus?’ Alec asks. Magnus must have activated the pentagram somehow, summoned something. If he needs to protect his boyfriend from a demon horde, he’d rather know sooner than later. Not that Magnus seemed to need a lot of protection in there.

‘Iris became a danger to the coven, everybody. She’s taken care of,’ Magnus says. ‘We take of our own. In every way. Your people don’t need to get involved.’

Alec blinks. _Magnus knows he_ _’s a Hunter?_

‘Hunters are easy to spot,’ Magnus answers his unspoken question. ‘I’ve become very good at it over the years.’

A painful thought rises up out of Alec’s surprise. ‘Is that why you’re dating me?’ he asks.

‘It’s why I started talking to you that night at the bar,’ Magnus admits. He raises his hand like he wants to touch Alec, but then quickly pulls it back. When he continues his voice is soft, almost pleading. ‘But it’s not why I’m dating you.’

Alec looks past Magnus, out over the water. So much has happened in the past half-hour. There’s so much for him to process, so much for them talk about, it almost overwhelms him. His body still feels sore from being tied up and lying in the same position for so long. He needs to sit down before he falls over. There’s a bench a couple feet away, it’s old and the wood looks rotten, but right now it looks very inviting. It creaks ominously when they sit down, and for a second Alec thinks it won’t hold, but then the old wood settles.

He looks over at Magnus. His boyfriend is sitting up straight, staring ahead of him, hands on his knees. His face is blank, except for a tension in his jaw and around his eyes.

‘Are you okay?’ Alec asks.

Magnus finally looks at him, his posture softening. ‘I’m not sure,’ he says . ‘Are _you_ okay?’

‘A couple bruises,’ Alec says. He holds up a hand and the red ring of rope burn around his wrist is vivid against his skin. ‘And I’ll probably be a little sore tomorrow.

‘May I?’ Magnus asks, holding out his hands.

Alec doesn’t hesitate, and places his hands in Magnus’. Tendrils of blue emerge from Magnus’ palm, and wrap themselves around Alec’s wrist. He doesn’t feel them moving, but he can feel it when they start working their magic on his wrists. It’s warm and a little itchy. Soon the blue tendrils retreat, but Magnus keeps hold of his hands.

‘That’s all I can do for now,’ Magnus says. ‘I’m a little tired.’

‘You didn’t have to anything. But thank you,’ Alec says, squeezing Magnus’ fingers. He looks at the warehouse. It’s just a warehouse, like all the others. There’s no way to tell what happened in there tonight from just looking at it. ‘Were you planning on telling me?’

Magnus huffs. ‘Ironically, I was planning on telling you tonight.’ He smiles softly. ‘It’s tradition for us to spend Halloween night with family, both dead and alive. I don’t have anyone I want to spend it with, so I thought I’d spend it with you.’

‘And show me some of your tricks and treats?’ Alec asks, smirking, raising an eyebrow.

‘That was the idea,’ Magnus laughs. He scoots closer and Alec wraps an arm around his shoulder. There’s still a tension in his body.

‘There’s more,’ Alec realizes.

‘Yes.’

‘Does it have to do with that favour you called in?’

Magnus hesitates before he answers, ‘Yes.’

‘But it’s not for tonight?’

‘It’s a lot, and tonight has already been draining.’

‘Okay.’ Alec knows Magnus will tell him if he insists, and he can already feel the curiosity gnawing at him, but it’s not for him to decide when Magnus tells him things. Besides, they’ve got plenty of time. ‘You know, I still haven’t had dinner,’ he says instead.

‘I could eat,’ Magnus agrees.

They stand, the bench creaking even worse than before. Alec keeps his arm around Magnus’ shoulder and steers him in the direction of the nearest subway station. Then he remembers how they look, him like he got beaten up and Magnus in his robes, and stops.

‘You don’t happen to have a change of clothes on you, do you?’ he asks, tugging at his bloodied shirt.

‘Darling, it’s New York and Halloween,’ Magnus reminds him. ‘If anything, we look too normal.’

Alec laughs. They’re anything but normal, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [tumblr](http://fandom-madnessess.tumblr.com/).


End file.
